With devices presently in use the pipe carrying the electrical wires insert into a bottom receptacle and then forced into an upper sleeve which is secured to the electrical box. The pipe is then moved upwardly approximately one half the distance into the upper sleeve and one half the distance out of the lower receptacle. Set screws through the lower receptacle and upper sleeve are tightened to secure the pipe therein. If the pipe is not positioned accurately enough the set screws may engage with the pipe too near the pipe end thereby collapsing the pipe and damaging the wires therein. Even if the wires are not damaged immediately the collapsed pipe end creates a sharp edge which will strip any wires moving through the pipe.
Inspection of the pipe placement to assure that all contacts are positioned correctly requires removal of the pipe. Thus, when returned to the receptacle and sleeve all of the same errors are possible and the inspection is for naught. Thus, inspectors commonly do not review these types of connections and potentially dangerous errors go unnoticed.
The portal semicylindrical connector of the subject invention relates to the field of electrical wiring and conduits and provides: easier installation, inspection and maintenance; prevention of personal harm by commercial and private users; protection of wiring within service areas and conduits; and, integral conduit system strengthening by use of an unique internal/external janus-flange.
Previously, a number of inventions have been made in the field of pipes and conduits which address the objects of catchment and securing of conduit connectors. In a patent issued to Carney, in 1904, U.S. Pat. No. 771,709, an invention was presented that offered two semicylindrical unattached halfs which could be joined by use of a screwdown collar. This connection with collar invention had the objects of preserving the integrity of the joint and of attachment and remoVal, With repair opportunity at point of coupling. In 1927, U.S. Pat. No. 1,650,233 was issued to Plunkett, which displayed two hollow half boxes fastened together by bolts, forming a corner box connector for a wiring conduit that changes direction. As with the Carney invention, the Plunkett design required unfastening two independent halfs, one of which would be removed while the other could be held in place by hand or other holding means. Further, the Plunkett invention intended that the interior box space would hold a slackened area of wire and provide a working area for service repair.
A coupling variation by Merrel in 1944, U.S. Pat. No. 2,341,112, presented an inverted T-box connection where the T separated flexible wiring armor. A single clamping mechanism secured the wiring armor against the T-crossbar and directed its entry into the hollow T-stanchion. Similar to the Plunkett invention, Merrel's object was removal of the clamping mechanism for entry into the T-intersection, but unlike Plunkett who intended repair, Merrel's priority was on multiple insertions of additional flexible armor cables/wires. Still, the Merrel design was like both the Carney and Plunkett in utilizing two independent pieces to create the fastening mechanism.
An invention by Sixt, U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,179 displayed a coupling adaptor that offered an easy-to-use and reliable attachment It permitted flexible corrugated tubing to be coupled by with the invention's plurality of annular raised ribs, where the tapered end of the adaptor would provide a male fit into the corrugated tubing up to the point where the corrugated ridges would form a connecting seal with the tapered adaptor's similar ridges. While Sixt's invention was able to address the advantages presented by corrugated materials by offering a time-saving and easy-to-use coupler, some of the coupling objects of the prior art were sacrificed: the ability to remove an independent section in order to make repairs or to insert additional cabling. Removing Sixt's adaptor for these sacrificed advantages would mean the required application of an entirely new adaptor or corrugated tubing, whichever was more delicate, or in some circumstances, the replacement of both adaptor and tubing. Consequently, this meant the repair of the conduit system as well as the wiring or cabling system.
An invention by Hollaender, U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,189, incorporated several of the prior art advantages by introducing a pipe connector of the split sleeve type. Two semicylindrical half sleeves, cut along the longitudinal line, offered a connector best embodied as a coupling T, where one part of the T is a section of piping and the other part of the T is to two half sleeves, one of which is integrally molded to the T. The other half sleeve is an independent section of the coupling which is fastened by channelled tie wings and set screws. The entire Hollaender invention is designed for the two advantages of installation and strengthening of the conduits.
These prior inventions were limited by their applications. For example, the Sixt invention is best embodied by an application which is intended to be permanent and which provides a drainout from the pipe system. As such, it is not expected to be subject to removal for repair of the conduit interior nor subject to withstand either pipe movement pressures.
The inventions by Carney and Plunkett were both simple inventions of similar halfs being held together by fasteners. With Carey, the two semicylindrical sleeves were held over the to-be-secured joint, and a fastening collar was threaded onto the halfs, thereby securing the joint. Plunkett's invention had in the preferred embodiment an electrical corner or redirection connection, where the elbow connection was achieved by a longitudinally-cut hollow box. Two halfs of the box were held together over the area to be protected and fastened together by a plurality of bolts and the piping connected to the box.
Merrel's invention advanced the art by offering a clamping mechanism, itself shaped to hold flexible armor cables to the crossbar of an inverted, hollowed T enclosure. The achievement in holding the clamped armored cables, however, emphasized the object of introducing additional cabling when needed. Again, my invention is not designed merely to hold in place, neither only for protection as in the prior art nor for clamping redirected cables as in the Merrel variation.
The objects of the Hollaender invention are apparent from the preferred embodiments and for which it was designed: joining two or more pipes which extend or cross angularly. One half of the Hollaender connector is an integrally molded short pipe with half sleeve, where the short pipe serves as an extension of one of the two main pipe systems which angularly cross. The second pipe is laid in place over the half sleeve of the connector, and the second pipe is secured to the connector by the other half sleeve and fastened by channelled tie wings and set screws.
Also, more than simply feeding the wiring into a new Pipe or service area, my invention supports and strengthens the piping system interface with a unique interior/exterior janus-flange. This prevents intrusion by a shifting pipe into the service area itself, thereby avoiding property damage and personal harm that comes from electrical system fraying, shorts, exposed wire, etc.
These prior inventions fail to disclose the several advantages contained in the portal semicylindrical connector, and none display the janus-flange or portal features of the instant invention. My invention is designed as an interior electrical conduit connector which strengthens the integrity of the conduit system by displaying an interior/exterior janus-flange preventing a structural system collapse whereby a connected pipe impinges the interior of the contiguous service box/area. With the janus-flange, a pipe which exceeds pressing tolerance on the service box either cracks the portal connector causing the pipe end to be directed away from the box entrance/knot hole or the pipe itself cracks and again the pipe end is turned aside.
The portal feature carries numerous advantages including: decreased time for installation; reduced space requirements for service; increased safety for property protection and personal harm prevention. The very design of the portal carries these advantages. During installation, the main cylindrical frame is attached to the service box, and the pipe end is laid on the concave catchment of the main semicylindrical half sleeve. The wiring system is then secured by the fastening of the dependent semicylindrical half sleeve. During service and maintenance, the portal dependent sleeve is removed allowing access for inspection, fishtaping, and repair; thereby eliminating the need for space and labor for pipe movement. Safety is increased by: a reduction in the need for major body movement; a reduction in body strain during movement of the pipe; a reduction in wire strain from detachment and separation of conduit; ease of system maintenance by non-professionals and homeowners.
Still other discrete features and combined features make my invention an important contribution to the field, as well as contributing to still other related activities as: trade school instruction; hauling and carrying of piping; and, construction.